Blue Origin - New Shepard’s First Human Flight patch.
July 20, 2021
New Shepard’s launch
Blue Origin successfully completed New Shepard’s first human flight today with four private citizens onboard. The crew included Jeff Bezos, Mark Bezos, Wally Funk and Oliver Daemen, who all became space tourists when they passed the Kármán Line, the internationally recognized boundary of space.
Blue Origin NS-16: New Shepard’s First Human Flight
Upon landing, the astronauts were greeted by their families and Blue Origin’s ground operations team for a celebration in the West Texas desert.
A Historic flight:
- Wally Funk, 82, became the oldest person to fly in space.
- Oliver Daemen, 18, was the first ever commercial astronaut to purchase a ticket and fly to space on a privately-funded and licensed space vehicle from a private launch site. He also became the youngest person to fly in space.
- New Shepard became the first commercial vehicle under a suborbital reusable launch vehicle license to fly paying customers, both payloads and astronauts, to space and back.
- Jeff and Mark Bezos became the first siblings to ever fly in space together.
“Today was a monumental day for Blue Origin and human spaceflight,” said Bob Smith, CEO, Blue Origin. “I am so incredibly proud of Team Blue, their professionalism, and expertise in executing today’s flight. This was a big step forward for us and is only the beginning.”
Blue Origin expects to fly two more crewed flights this year, with many more crewed flights planned for 2022.
Theodore von Kármán equation
A plane, aircraft, or other object relies on the density of the atmosphere to keep it aloft. The atmosphere thins as the distance from Earth increases, forcing a craft to increase velocity in order to stay airborne. This push and pull can be illustrated by an equation proposed by Theodore von Kármán, with the eponymous line becoming the distance from the planet at which a craft must meet or exceed orbital velocity in order to prevent a loss of altitude (orbital flight). Blue Origin and its competitor Virgin Galactic practice ballistic flight.
Kármán rounded his initial calculated result 100 kilometers, and, in the process, selected the boundary by which pilots and passengers become astronauts.
If you have a desire to become a space tourist in the future, crossing the Kármán line (as well as how long an individual stays above it) will play a significant role in legitimizing your personal journey. While your government will likely forgo giving you a pair of Astronaut Flight Wings (because you are not an Astronaut, just a space tourist), you can slap a sticker on your car or laptop stating "I passed the Kármán line" and let everyone know you are a true space traveler.
Blue Origin: https://www.blueorigin.com/
Images, Video, Text, Credits: Blue Origin/Gradatim Ferociter/SciNews/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.
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